Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2012 day 2

Saturday, the busiest day of the Festival.


I headed over to sign up for a rowing/sailing trip aboard the longboats. These longboats are replicas of the longboats used by Captain George Vancouver to explore the Puget Sound region in 1792. Ive been wanting to take a tour on them for years, but havent been able to until now because they were either full or there were too many other things to see and do. There are so many things to do at the festival there is no way to do them all.

These 26 replica longboats are used by the Northwest Maritime Center School Programs. They are each equipped with 8 rowing stations and 3 dipping lug sails.  They are used to teach youth teambuilding, problem solving, and maritime skills.  Teenagers attend intensive 2-5 day programs of discovery and exploration where they learn to row, sail, learn navigation, compass use, knots, marine biology, history and more.  They are also used in the Pacific Challenge.

Fortunately, we had several of these teenage students aboard to help us learn to row in sync and teach us how to tack the three sails on our dipping lug rig.

The first lesson we learned was "Crab!".  "Crab!" is what you yell out when the rowers get out of sync and get their oars all tangled up, which usually brings all four rowers on that side to a halt.

To prevent Crabs, one rower is designated as the pace setter.  From the rowers point of view, its the rower on their right and all the way up front. The rowers are all facing aft of course, so that would make him the aft-most port-side rower.  Anyway, the rower to his immediate left is supposed to row in sync with him.  The rest of the rowers are all supposed to keep in sync with the rower seated immediately in front of them.  Sounds simple, right?  We had lots of Crabs.  All it takes to create a Crab is for one rower to lose focus for a second or two.

Tacking the dipping lug rig involved a complex sequence of  tacking the halyard, the sail tack, tacking the sheets, lowering the sail and dipping the yard, that I still dont fully understand.  It was unlike anything Id ever done before and required about 3 or 4 people on each sail.  I loved it!  I wish I were a teenager so I could sign up for these programs.  I also have a new found respect for the crew of these longboats. After only a half hour of rowing, my hands were numb and my back started to ache.  Vancouvers explorers often rowed for hours upon hours exploring and charting the miles of coastlines here.  Heres a bit of video.  Its not very good.  These are working boats.  Youre always rowing or sailing, or trying to stay out of the way of other boats.  There is very little opportunity for filming.

More to come.

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Sucia Island Rendezvous 2012

Fossil Bay, Sucia Island, near the Canadian Border in the San Juan Islands is the scene for a gathering of small boat enthusiasts the second weekend in July.

This year was a quiet one. The weather was postcard perfect, unless youre a sailor. Boats came and went in an erratic schedule, so it was hard to tell how many attended. A couple big production boats were in the line-up, which was a new twist.

For the sailors, the week was a tease. When a breeze came up we were all seduced but most often, once out of the harbor, boats drifted on the tides while skippers and crew baked in the sun.



Please make no mistake - getting up to a brilliant sunrise every morning is a wonderful thing! I suppose it would be brash to take credit, though Im convinced the weather was so fine because I made up a heavy-duty boom tent that could stand torrential rains for weeks (nay years) on end. That tent became my penance. It is so heavy and ungainly (and I must say unattractive) it took an hour to set up and an equal amount of time to strike. If it werent for the heavy dew fall, I might have abandoned it altogether.

Lets look at the line-up...

Katie Mae belongs to Lynn Watson of Port Townsend. She was built by the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, under the supervision of Ray Speck
She is a modified 21 foot Drascombe PeterBoat.
Well sailed and an exceptional design, she is hard to keep up with.
I include this photo to demonstrate the contrast of vessels found in Fossil Bay.

Heres Joel and Tim Bergen in their Welsford Navigator, Ellie. 
Joel has some more details about this gathering on his website.

Paul and Arnie sailed in from Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, BC.
Pauls boat is a Friendship Sloop designed by Jay Benford, named Friendship. Weve talked about Paul and his fine boat before.
Arnie is a former bosun in the Canadian Navy and an accomplished sailor. It was a pleasure to make his acquaintance.

Marty Loken, from Marrowstone Island brought his newest acquisition, a Iain Oughtred Willyboat.
Marty is as bad as I am about boats - if he loves um he has to bring em home.
Marty runs the Island Boatshop on Mystery Bay, Marrowstone Island, east of Port Townsend.

Ron Mueller cruises the San Juan and Gulf Islands every year in his power cat, Just Enuf.
This plywood EcoCat from Bernard Kohler has a king sized berth, standing headroom galley, and a private head. Ron stores two inflatable kayaks and two folding bikes in the starboard ama. Cruising speed is 10 knots with a top speed of 15 knots, using a 20hp outboard motor.

 

Bob Ennenberg hails from Vancouver, BC, where he built this Jim Michalak pram, Duck. Its Bobs first build and I was impressed how well it sails. He has no permanent furniture inside and its a regular ballroom down below.
Bob is a grade school teacher with perpetual good humor. Hope he comes back next year.

These folks were not here to join us, but what a happy coincidence!

Their beautiful vessel is a Connecticut River Shad Boat.

James McMullen showed up from Anacortes, WA in his sail-and-oar boat Rowan.
James had places to see, so he was there only one night. He told me later that he covered over 60 nautical miles in four days under sail and oar alone. The man has ambition!

James is part owner of Emerald Marine in Anacortes.

And here we have Jamie Orr of Victoria, BC in his Phil Bolger Chebacco, Wayward Lass.
Ive had the pleasure of sailing with Jamie quite a few times, though Im a bit tired of looking at his transom. The Chebacco is an amazing little boat and Jamie handles her well.
Thanks to Jamie for all his organizational efforts concerning this rendezvous!
He has a website to keep us updated and is one of the best cat-herders I know.

You recognize this guy. Its Doryman in Saga. Jamie was gracious enough to circle around and take my picture before he took off for the horizon.
The jib was an experiment and well come back to that later.
Saga is a modified William Atkin Valgerda faering.

I call this the Mother Ship. Chuck Gottfried, his wife Shay and good friend Dean chartered a Baba 30 for the week. Not my cuppa tea, but what luxury!
Here we see Dean firing up some Super Tramp on his digital music player just before breakfast. Not my cuppa either, but the man is happy and thats all that counts.
They sailed in company with some old friends in a C&C 35 and Im sorry to have not gotten a photo of them.

Martin Schneider came from Port Townsend in his Allegra 24 cutter, Clover

Thats a lot of boat in a tidy package. I hope to sail with Martin someday.






That about covers it, hope I didnt miss anyone.

The slideshow from Sucia Island 2012:

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Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2012

This years festival in Port Townsend, Washington State was the 36th celebration of wood boat craft in this famous maritime town. Its a huge show requiring constant year-round planning, hundreds of volunteer hours and consumes the entire community for three days every September. Many of the vessels in attendance come time and again because the whole event is like a huge reunion.

Whether you are a wooden boat fanatic like myself or simply like to stroll around on a nice day and enjoy a beautiful setting, there is something there for everyone. In fact there are so many boats, displays and lectures you could never take it all in.

 There were no Doryman boats entered in the show but I took the rowing shell, Finesse so I could view and photograph the boats from the water. Joel Bergen was kind enough to take me sailing in the small boat race in his John Welsford Navigator, Ellie so some of the photos came about that way. I see that Joel has already begun his coverage of the show, which will no doubt be excellent. Be sure to stop by and see navigatorjoels version of the weekend.

(No we didnt take any prizes in the race but Ill leave it to him for that story.)

My voice is completely gone from talking about boats for days on end. Positively heaven for Doryman.

I cant add much to the photo essay. But you know what they say about pictures.


This essay is worth close to 150,000 words, please enjoy:

More photos of the 2012 Festival from John Kohnen:

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Fort Worden TSCA Messabout 2012

I have a lot to tell you about, as the summer sailing season draws to a close and well start with last weekends Puget Sound Traditional Small Craft Association messabout in Port Townsend, Washington.

Its a full days journey to reach Fort Worden, at the confluence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet, from the mid-Oregon coast. It may seem a long haul for a one day event, but I try to make it every year because the sailing, camaraderie and potluck are superlative.

This year was no exception. There were quite a few new faces and new boats on the beach, as you will see from the photos. Unfortunately I didnt make the rounds as well as Id like, to get everyones story, because the Navy was on maneuvers with an aircraft carrier and its accompanying flotilla. You might wonder how ships two or three miles away could impact a bunch of boats on the beach, so Ill tell you...

One minute its a calm sunny day on the beach at Fort Worden. Then two miles away, in Admiralty Inlet, an aircraft carrier goes by. Its so far away, you hardly notice until its wake hits the beach fifteen minutes later. Look closely in the distance of this photo and youll see the culprit, seemingly drifting by harmlessly.




The Swamping of Paku from doryman on Vimeo.

I grab the painter as the surf takes control of the beached Good Little Skiff, Paku and watch helplessly as the swell increases for an indeterminable time. At last, she is pooped and sinks on the sand with a hundred gallons of water and sand holding her to the bottom.

A sinking feeling.





The breezes were light and provided some comfortable sailing. The best way to avoid being pooped and sunk on the beach is to cast off for deep water and set sail! Every sailor knows the dangers of a lee shore and the relief of finding clear, open water.

As usual, the photos can be found on Dorymans Flickr site:

 

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Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2012 day 3

Final day of the festival.

Without a doubt, the hit of this years festival has to be James McMullens "Bar Tender" dinghy.

I caught a glimpse of James towing his keg laden dinghy on the way into the festival on Thursday, then gladly accepted a brew after we had set up, but it wasnt until now that I had a chance to fully appreciate it in all its glory.  Beauty, brilliance, utility, usefulness, hops, barley.  Its got it all.  Well done James!

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Cedar Key Small Boat Meet 2012

The month of May, in Florida, can be absolutely perfect for a small boat rendezvous. And it appears last weekend was just that.

For us who could not attend the Cedar Key Small Boat Meet, in Cedar Key Florida, here is a link to some photos from Lenna Young Andrews (AKA creativelenna).

And a link to another fine set of photos from catboat willy.


How about all those people standing knee deep in the water in May? No wonder so many folks show up for this event!





Photo of Bufflehead by Dave Lucas.

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Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival 2012 day 1

Friday morning. Let the Festival begin!

There were lots of interesting boats this year, including some Welsford designs new to the festival.
The Oregon Coots brought two Welsford Mollyhawks named Salt and Pepper, built at the Port of Toledo Community Boathouse.

This is Humu, Arlie Blankenships family built Scamp #74 which will feature a lateen type sail  and an auxiliary electric motor with AGM batteries for ballast.  Humus name, color scheme, and choice of sail depict the Hawaiian state fish, the humuhumunukunukuapua?a, aka reef triggerfish.  I love it when a boat has a theme.

Need bronze hardware? Top quality hand tools? This is the place to go.

A few of the festival boats.  Doryman has done a far better job than I of photographing the many beautiful festival boats.  See his slideshow here.

 

 

 

Hang onto your socks, but this year I decided to enter the 26 and under wooden sailboat race.  Yes, me, the guy whos never raced anything in his life. The guy who has no trace of the racing gene in his DNA decided to become a sailboat racer for the first time.  Well, sorta.  After I attended the pre-race skippers meeting I quickly realized that I was utterly clueless so I invited Doryman to come along for my own protection.  Mike is an experienced racer.  I needed him badly.  Thank goodness he accepted.

We headed out about a half hour before the race was due to start so we could locate the markers and check out the boat.  Mike confirmed what John Welsford told me last year; that my jibsheet fairleads need to move aft about foot.  I still havent moved them.  I have no excuses.

The race started at 2:30 but we got off to a very late start after we tangled with another boat that didnt yield the right of way to us.  To make matters worse, the winds were light and the currents were strong, plus the wind shifted direction making it difficult for us as one of the smallest boats in the race.  Still, we gave a Beetle Cat a run for its money, and passed a Goat Island Skiff for a while.  Many of the smaller boats were unable to complete the course before the two hour time limit expired so they dropped out.  But Mike and I were determined to finish the race, no matter what, even if the finish line was no longer there. We completed the course about 5 minutes after the time limit expired.  Victory!

So, whats it like, Ive been asking myself, to be a sailboat racer? Ill probably get in trouble for saying this but I must confess it didnt do a lot for me.  Dont get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for skilled sailboat racers, and I mean no disrespect to anyone, but Im afraid going around in circles as fast as you can just doesnt stir anything within me.  Im sorry.  I really am.  My DNA has no racing gene.  Its not my fault!  I think Ill just cross Sailboat Racing off my bucket list and go back to exploring, relaxing, and just generally enjoying myself when out sailing.  Please forgive me.

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Sucia 2012 Day 1

After what seemed like an interminably wet Spring, the weather finally broke just in time for this years Sucia Small Boat Rendezvous.  My Son and I met up with Marty Loken at Sandy Point marina early Friday morning, arriving almost simultaneously.  After rigging, launching, and puttering a rather long way through Sandy Point, we finally reached the Strait of Georgia, or the "Salish Sea" which some people now call it, but most of us dont, only to discover ... No Wind.  Drats!

Marty rowed his beautiful Whilly Boat for a while.  We motored for a bit.

Then we towed Marty for another bit until finally, we started to feel a breeze.

The breeze steadily increased until whitecaps began forming, so we stopped to put in a reef.

Shortly after we tied in the reef, naturally the breeze started to die off again, so we shook out the reefs. Argh!

Then, up ahead, we saw three Pelicans! I dont think Ive ever seen pelicans around here before, so this was a real treat for us. I even managed to capture them on video as they flew away.

The wind was now almost completely calm, so we started up the outboard again. Then we saw dolphins!  I believe these are Harbor Porpoises.  We spotted them frequently over the course of the weekend.

When we arrived at Fossil Bay we faced this little problem. I had to wait for the tide to come in so I could move Ellie close enough to the beach to set up my clothesline anchor. Note the seaweed.  This is the nasty stuff that nearly killed my outboard motor last year.  The motor sucked some of it into the cooling intake, plugging it, which caused the motor to overheat.  The engine block got so hot it melted the insulation on the wire to the kill switch, grounding it and shutting off the motor. If that hadnt happened, the motor would have surely seized up.

While waiting for the tide to come in, some of the other boats began to arrive.  This gorgeous boat is a Connecticut River Shad boat.  After talking to the owners for a while, I finally realized that they werent a part of our Rendezvous.  They lived on Orcas Island and were just there for the day.  I told them about our yearly Rendezvous and they said maybe they would join us next year.

Others continued to arrive. Directly behind Ellie you can see Doryman Mike standing in his Valgerda and fellow Shopsmith owner and master woodworker Paul Miller in his Friendship.

Is this tide ever gonna finish coming in??? It did (finally).

We set up camp, did a little hiking, planned our next days trip to Patos Island, and enjoyed this beautiful sunset.

We retired, looking forward to tomorrows Fossil expedition and trip to Patos.

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